Mayday (2013)
Mayday in a small town steeped in pagan traditions where the crowning of the May Queen is the highlight of the day until suddenly she goes missing.
A rather tasty and sinister five part BBC series in which all the main protagonists, a fine array of tv talent including Aiden Gillen (
Game of Thrones,
The Wire), Peter Firth (
Spooks) and Lesley Manville (
Cranford), are suspected of the murder of 14 year old Hattie Sutton and all seemingly have motives. Motives that include being caught wanking in the woods, being the object of the dead girl's crush, or because Hattie had to die to bring about new life to the town. It's not just a murder mystery though. As befits the tradition of Mayday there's also a mystical aspect to it all with the whole thing having a surreal Pagan aura to it, especially the finale.
I planned on watching an episode a night but ended up watching the last three one after the other as i had to know how and why.
Had this been made in the 70's i've no doubt it would be revered and released by the BFI alongside productions like
Robin Redbreast and
Penda's Fen.
Recommended.
Leila Mimmack as Hattie Fisher.